麻豆传媒映画

The species, found on Corsica, is the same height as a domestic cat but longer, with thick grey-and-ginger fur and long canine teeth. It could have appeared as early as 6,500BC, according to researchers.

Pierre Benedetti, of the Office national de la chasse et de la faune sauvage (ONCFS), said: 鈥淚t is not so much a discovery as a revelation.鈥�

The cat has long been the subject of islanders鈥� stories but it is the first time it has been scientifically recognised.

Researchers have identified 16 cats around the Vall茅e d鈥橝sco in Haute-Corse and have caught 12. 鈥淲e study them and then release them back into the wild,鈥� said Mr Benedetti.